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WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY REPORTS BEST-EVER STREAMING OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES WITH TRIPLE-DIGIT GROWTH AS AUDIENCES IN EUROPE EMBRACE INNOVATIVE VIEWING EXPERIENCE

23 February 2026 - Last updated 9 March 2026

WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY REPORTS BEST-EVER STREAMING OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES WITH TRIPLE-DIGIT GROWTH AS AUDIENCES IN EUROPE EMBRACE INNOVATIVE VIEWING EXPERIENCE

• Milano-Cortina 2026: number of viewers grew on both linear and streaming services vs Beijing 2022*
• Best-ever streaming Olympic Winter Games featuring 1000+ hours on HBO Max and discovery+ and popular new viewing features such as Olympics Multiview
• Social video views exceeded 4 billion (+580% vs Beijing 2022) on Eurosport (Europe) and TNT Sports (UK & Ireland) accounts

The return of the Olympic Winter Games to Europe combined with world-class sports production and a highly innovative streaming experience has driven significant growth in viewership and engagement across Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) services across Europe.

Highlights across the seventeen days of competition (6-22 February 2026), as well as two days prior to the Opening Ceremony featuring select sports events (4-5 February 2026), include:

Across streaming (HBO Max and discovery+):

  • The best streaming Olympic Winter Games ever on Warner Bros. Discovery services (vs Beijing 2022 and PyeongChang 2018).
  • Triple-digit percentage growth in total hours viewed (+103% vs Beijing 2022) - including triple-digit growth in France, Germany, Italy (on HBO Max) and the UK (discovery+).
  • Streaming across HBO Max and discovery+ saw three times more viewers (234%) vs Beijing 2022.
  • As reported, total subscribers streaming Milano Cortina 2026 content exceeded those that viewed the entire Beijing 2022 Games after only 3 days**
  • Social video views on Eurosport (Europe) and TNT Sports (UK & Ireland) accounts exceeded four billion – all pointing viewers to the relevant streaming service.

Innovative streaming features helped maximise engagement and boost viewership. Available within the ultimate Olympics viewing experience on HBO Max and discovery+, including:

  • Presenting every event live – all 246 live sessions, peaking at 11 concurrent events, including 116 medal contests, 2,900 athletes competing across 19 days.
  • Approximately a third (32%) of users utilising Olympics Multiview. For the first time allowing streaming viewers to watch up to four Olympics events concurrently on a single screen with their choice of audio.
  • Empowering users to navigate the concurrent live action through Gold Medal Alerts and Timeline Markers; offering Personalised Watch Lists that were utilised by the majority of users; allowing users to select from up to 21 commentary languages for their live coverage.



Commenting on Milano-Cortina 2026, Andrew Georgiou, President & Managing Director, WBD Sports Europe, said: “The success we witnessed in the opening days has translated into an outstanding Olympic Winter Games for Warner Bros. Discovery with substantial streaming viewership and engagement growth in addition to highly robust linear audiences. 

“Watching the Olympic Games on HBO Max and discovery+ clearly resonated with audiences in the UK and Europe with three times as many people choosing to stream the Games with us compared to Beijing 2022. Viewers being able to curate their own Olympics, selecting from all 116 live events and using innovative features such as our one-screen Multiview, drove significant increases in time spent by fans watching on our streaming services. This Olympics has set an incredibly strong foundation as we look to Los Angeles 2028 and the Olympic Winter Games returning to Europe again for French Alps 2030.”

Across linear (Eurosport in Europe; TNT Sports in the U.K & Ireland)***:

  • Linear saw a +3% increase in viewers vs Beijing 2022, marking a reverse of declines in total TV consumption over this period and driving the bulk of overall live viewing.
  • More than 50% linear growth in hours viewed overall vs Beijing 2022 (+51%).

Eurosport channels vs Beijing 2022:

  • France +47% in hours viewed
  • Germany +50% hours viewed
  • Poland +32% hours viewed 

TNT Sports channels (U.K & Ireland only) vs Beijing 2022:

  • UK & Ireland +60% hours viewed  

WBD’s streaming platforms HBO Max (Europe) and discovery+ (UK)* were the only place to watch every event broadcast live, whilst its linear channels Eurosport (Europe) and TNT Sports (UK and Ireland) delivered comprehensive Games-time coverage to millions of fans.  

---

*Availability of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 across Europe on WBD’s channels and platforms:

  • Eurosport: pan-European premium television coverage excluding the UK and Ireland
  • TNT Sports: premium television coverage in the UK and Ireland
  • HBO Max: streaming of every event broadcast live from the Winter Olympics in all plans in Europe.
  • HBO Max recently launched in Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Israel, and Greece.
  • discovery+: streaming of every event feed from the Winter Olympics in all plans in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and Austria, Select plans in Norway and Sweden; and in Italy on the Sport tier only.
  • Player.pl: streaming of every event feed broadcast on the International with ads tier in Poland All-platform comparisons vs Beijing 2022 and PyeongChang 2018 reflect changes in the new 2026-2032 rights cycle, such as the exclusion of free-to-air coverage in Finland, Norway and Sweden. Features Eurosport channels across Europe (see below) and WBD streaming services. 

**6-8 February 2026; first 3 days of full competition.

***Linear TV audience are measured up to 18/02/2026 across the following territories: Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, U.K., Finland. Final and fully deduplicated total audience numbers for the whole Olympics period follow after the Games.

Contacts

WBD Sports (Europe)

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